10 Completely Unexpected Films By Famous Directors

7. The Straight Story - David Lynch's Quirky Disney Dramedy

The sight of an elderly man riding a lawnmower across America to visit his dying brother in a dramedy backed by Walt Disney Pictures would typically send most cineastes scurrying for the hills. Rarely has a movie on paper sounded more twee and self-consciously quirky than The Straight Story. Except it becomes much less so when you factor in the director: David Lynch.

Yes, seemingly made as some kind of palette cleanser in between the oneiric madness of Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, The Straight Story is Lynch's ode to Alvin Straight, an Iowan WWII veteran who really did travel 240 miles on a lawnmower to be by the side of his ailing brother in 1994. It's not quite Lynch's only biopic - he made The Elephant Man early in his career after all, though even that didn't quite break away from Lynch's penchant for dream logic and adult themes.

The Straight Story is a departure in that the whole thing is supposed to be set in reality; Lynch called it his "most experimental movie", which should offer some indication of how normal it is.

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Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1